The sky is dark and sorrowful, and the earth is vast and sad.

The smoke is smoky, the water is surging, and the leaves are fluttering and the wind is blowing.

The heavy rain darkened the world, and the pedestrians under the oil-paper umbrellas gradually lost their direction, so they could only follow the flow of people blindly and follow them. The carriage galloped, and a pale splash gradually rose on Baihua Street, wetting the clothes of passers-by on the road. Just as passers-by were about to open their mouths to scold, the carriage had escaped into the heavy rain and could not be found.

Actually, Zhao Cai is really smart.

Although he is a pig on the cusp of the wind, he is also a pig with a lot of foresight and is relatively high in the wind. He possessed a keen sense of money as a professional gambler, which made him almost blind to the windfall profits hidden in stocks, and made him one of the first to enjoy windfall profits in this massive business revolution. However, gamblers also have a fatal flaw in their relationship with money, which cannot be ignored, and that is greed.

Greed can never be satisfied.

Gamblers who win money will always want to win more money, and they will not want to leave the table. But how can the dealer in the casino let you win all the time? It's like the shocking gamble in the Drunken Immortal Building, even though Long Gongzi won the world's wealth, but he didn't know how to stop in moderation, and in the end, Xia Xun quietly turned the tide and lost all his money?

It's not a fate, it's a game at all.

"Royal!"

The carriage galloped, opening up a white wave of the majestic rain, rushing out of Baihua Lane, going around a few streets, and finally stopping at a hidden green tile building on the edge of Xuanwu Lake in the west of the city.

Ordinary people who live in the west of the city rarely rely on this area on weekdays, and if they are not forced by an emergency, they will even choose to take a detour. Because, this green tile building is a gold shop, and the gold shop in Chang'an City has another name, called Longzuizi. The so-called dragon's mouth secretly refers to the meaning of Longtang's mouth.

And this gold shop on the edge of Xuanwu Lake is the entrance of Xuanwu Lake Hall in Longtang in the west of the city.

The chassis of the underworld, who dares to provoke ordinary people?

"I'll go in later, talk less and listen more, don't get me into trouble. ”

"Yes, yes, Brother Cai, I listen to your arrangement. ”

"If Tian Chaoqun asks you where you called, you can say that it is my distant cousin, and he will follow you in the future. ”

"Thank you, Brother Cai..."

"Well, let's go. ”

Zhao Cai led the coachman out of the carriage, carefully reminded a few more important words, and then changed into a smiling face like a deputy slave and walked into the Blue Tile Building...

And not long after Zhao Cai and the two entered the building.

Not far away, three passenger boats slowly rowed along the river of Xuanwu Lake.

A fast horse appeared almost at the end of the street, galloping.

Dozens of officers and men wearing soap uniforms first jumped off the first passenger ship and stood neatly on both sides of the shore, letting the pouring rain drench their bodies and not moving. Immediately afterwards, the last passenger ship moored over, stretched out a bright purple umbrella from the cabin and stretched it out, a household official in a red robe walked out of the cabin and looked around for a while, and then gently lifted the curtain of the cabin, and used the umbrella to shield a young man who slowly walked out of the cabin from the rain, and let the pouring rain wet himself.

The young man is young, at most thirteen or fourteen years old, and he looks particularly squeamish in a white brocade dress with silk boots and a blue jade belt. It's just that his eyes are shining high, like a sword unsheathed and his edge is exposed, and the words "I am your uncle" are not written on his face. With such an unruly noble son, I am afraid that it will be difficult to find a second place in the entire Chang'an City.

"Royal!"

Liu Yan put his hands behind his back, held his head high, and led several household officials onto the riverbank.

The fast horse galloping in the distance stopped under the reins of the reins, and the officers and soldiers on the horse turned over and landed on the ground, and then trotted to Liu Yan and neatly took out a letter from his bosom and presented it with both hands.

"Young Master Liu, this is the reply from the Criminal Department. ”

Sha...

Because the coats on the officers and soldiers were soaked by the rain, and a few drops of rain accidentally splashed on Liu Yan's collar in a hurry, Liu Yan suddenly rolled his eyes in displeasure and scolded: "You be careful, I bought this new dress for thirty taels of silver, and if it gets dirty, I will have to make you pay for it." ”

The officers and soldiers were obviously cowardly, and they didn't dare to squeak.

Liu Yan didn't bother to pursue it anymore, so he took the letter casually, then opened the seal and took out the letter paper and put it in front of him to look at it carefully.

After looking at it for a while, he couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth, revealing a treacherous little tiger tooth.

"This Dragon Hall's business is really big, I almost neglected them before. ”

The official of the Ministry of Gold who was standing next to Liu Yan looked suspicious, and asked puzzledly: "Yanzi, didn't you say that Zhenwu is just watching * today, why did you come here again?"

Liu Yan said disdainfully: "Heh, Zhenwu*, where is this Dragon Hall Romance wonderful?"

"Could it be that there is something wrong with this Dragon Hall?"

"Digging out the radish with mud is a big problem. ”

“......”

What happened here was a bit sudden, and it caught people off guard.

This morning, when the news of the ancient burial of the mountain Zhenwu spread, Liu Yan, who has never liked the disputes in the rivers and lakes, did not know where to get interested, and surprisingly pulled a few uncles of the Ministry of Gold and dozens of officials of the Criminal Department, so he ran to the west of the city to take a boat to the lake, looking up at the wind and rain of the real martial arts.

But, with Liu Yan's cultivation, how can he see through the wind and rain on Zhenwu Mountain?

However, he really watched the lake for most of the day with great interest.

No one knew what he was seeing, or if he didn't see it. But his excited appearance of dancing was definitely not pretended. Until the sword qi of Zhenwu Mountain broke through the black clouds full of rain, and under the torrential rain, the rolling Xuanwu Lake was no longer suitable for tourists to raft. Liu Yan ordered someone to sail the boat back to the shore, and this is the current situation.

Perhaps smelling that Liu Yan's drunkard didn't mean to drink, an older official of the Ministry of Gold who was traveling with him leaned down a little and cautiously reminded: "Yanzi, are you mistaken? Although this group of people in Longtang has done all kinds of evil, they have also been obedient in recent years. I checked their accounts a few years ago, and in addition to the frequent leakage of private salt, the monthly taxes are normal, and the interest on loans is also within the scope of the imperial court regulations. It shouldn't be a big problem. ”

"Not before, but now no one can say. ”

Liu Yan glanced at the speaker, and then handed out the letter paper casually.

The old official took the letter and looked at it carefully, the content of the letter was nothing more than the provisions of the Criminal Department, and he didn't find out what the problem Liu Yan said was for a long time, so he asked: "This is the information they have filed with the Criminal Department, the deposit procedures are complete, and it is also reasonable to use the ticket to exchange money for loan, what's the problem?"

Liu Yan proudly raised a finger and waved it: "Their problem is not on the account, but under the account." ”

"Under the account?"

"Yes. ”

Liu Yan casually tore the envelope into tiny pieces and sprinkled them on the ground, saying: "Our gold department has asked the emperor to issue three decrees, and this Longtang will be filed with the criminal department the next day, and pay two million taels of gold as a counterpayment, and obtain the permission of the criminal department to convert the stock into silver and give credit to the people, which itself is a huge problem. ”

The old official of the Ministry of Finance didn't seem to understand the meaning of Liu Yan's words at all, and said: "Private lending has always existed, and now that the trend of buying tickets is flourishing, and private funds are limited, a gang like Longtang that is deeply rooted in Chang'an will definitely not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune." It's normal for them to ask the credittaker to pay for the money with the bill. ”

Seeing that the old official didn't open his mind for a long time, Liu Yan rolled his eyes again as if iron was not steel, and said rudely: "Uncle Shizai, you have been in the Ministry of Gold for too long, and you even have a rusty head, right?

The old official's temperament is extremely good, and he didn't have any anger at all when he was ridiculed by Liu Yan so rudely, but smiled awkwardly: "Yes, Uncle Shizai is old." The head is not as fast as you young people, and everything is confused. If you have anything to say, you can just say it clearly, and don't keep making fun of me. ”

Liu Yan proudly cocked the corners of his mouth on both sides, the two little tiger teeth under his mouth were full of pride, and his tall eyes seemed to be able to see through the dark clouds and rain to the sky, which made him even more proud and light.

With his hands back to his waist, Liu Yan explained: "Other questions are long, you don't understand well, and I don't have so much time to chatter, so I'll pick and talk to you briefly." The Jianghu sect pays the most attention to the heritage, and the Longtang flag has taken root in Chang'an for more than ten years, even if it develops rapidly and there are many people, but in the final analysis, it is still just an underworld gang. The underworld business looks at the scenery, bullying and dominating the market, monopolizing illegal salt, operating gambling stalls, brothels, and money jars are all lucrative transactions, but behind these transactions someone has to follow them. On the bright side, thugs who do things, horses who run errands, and dividends from gangs all need to be spent. Secretly, the officials and clerks of the household department, the Taishi officials and Cheng Zheng of the Ministry of Industry, the executive officers of the Criminal Department, the Zhonglang of the Ministry of Justice, and the Wailang of the Ministry of Justice, etc., all do not need to spend money. If these joints can't be opened, Longtang will not be able to gain a foothold in Chang'an at all, let alone want to spread out in northern Xinjiang. Saying this, Liu Yan dropped the corner of his eyes meaningfully and glanced at the two officials of the Ministry of Finance beside him. After a pause, he said: "The wind has left traces, and the geese have plucked their feathers." After such a careful calculation, it is already very difficult for the business in Longtang's hands to have a net profit of 30%, and this is still not enough for me to calculate the cost of their rapid expansion in recent years, if you count their losses, it is not enough. How much financial resources can the underworld gang have? Not to mention two million taels of gold, if they want to take two million taels of silver, they will have to cut their flesh. What's more, a lot of money is needed to support the lending?"

The old officials of the Ministry of Finance finally understood Liu Yan's reasoning now.

Liu Yan analyzed it well, although Longtang is notorious and can be called the number one underworld force in the northern Xinjiang of the Tang Dynasty, its background is too thin after all, and it can't even be compared to the ordinary Jianghu sects. And although the underworld is making huge profits, it must be separated from the white way, otherwise they have no soil to survive at all. Under the encroachment of such black and white joints in various places, there is a limit to the huge profits of Longtang's business. It can make money faster than ordinary business, but not too fast. After more than ten years, they can accumulate hundreds of thousands of taels of gold, which is probably the limit, and two million taels can't be taken out by smashing pots and selling iron.

"Yanzi, are you saying that Longtang's business is boring?"

"It's not just boring, it's also very well-written. ”

The expression of the younger official of the Golden Department on the left suddenly became a little strange, and he gave a blank look to a male soldier standing in the heavy rain. Then carefully reminded Liu Yan: "But catch the thief and take the dirty, so far, we don't have enough evidence in our hands to indicate that Longtang has dirty financial resources." ”

Liu Yan slowly turned his eyes, looked at the speaker steadily, and did not speak, only faintly set off a dark smile. The smile was gloomy and slightly cold, which was completely inconsistent with his still naïve age, and also made his already unrighteous demeanor a little more evil.

"Evidence is to be found. ”

"How?"

"Find the ledger. ”

“......！”